Abstract
Egypt's grand challenges of recycling, pollution, climate change, and environmental
preservation provide the backdrop for this project, which focuses on utilizing innovative
methods to build a smart, sustainable building, increasing recycling of wastes, reducing the
pollution rate in Egypt, and enhancing environmental sustainability. The purpose of this study
is to develop a solution for pollution and climate change problem. This solution seeks to
decrease the pollution rate and enhancing environmental sustainability by using natural and
eco-friendly not non-manufactured materials in the building. The project depends on using
the natural materials not manufactured ones such as cement in building and the design of
building to regulate the internal temperature of the building. also, it leverages renewable
energy sources such as sun, power of wind and power of water to generate the electricity that
the building needs and makes it net zero energy. To conclude, the project showed its
efficiency in regulating and decreasing the internal temperature more than 3 degrees which
showed its effectiveness in decreasing the pollution amount that cement and manufactured
materials make in traditional buildings. This would contribute to face the pollution, climate
change and enhancing environmental sustainability in Egypt.
Introduction
Among Egypt’s grand challenges, reducing the climate change effects and recycle garbage
and wastes are considered two of the most crucial challenges that will help to achieve its
sustainable development goals. So, it is necessary to manage and increase the recycling
process in Egypt and decrease the pollution. Egypt generates
almost all of its electricity from fossil gas and oil almost 90% in
the last year. Electricity production is rising rapidly, driven
entirely by increasing fossil gas generation. As a result, Egypt is
the largest fossil gas generating country in Africa, responsible for
45% of Africa’s gas generation. According to the recently
published Egyptian Electricity Holding Company EEHC report,
The built environment in Egypt has been found to consume more
than 60% of electric energy in Egypt. Air conditioning and Figure 1 Energy consumption pattern for
lighting have been found to consume more than two-thirds of buildings in Egypt.
energy in Egypt’s commercial and residential buildings sector as shown in graph (1). This
takes us to another two These problems can be solved by decreasing the cement consumption
in the building process and increasing the usage of natural, recycled, and ecofriendly
materials. The research conducted on this problem and the attempts that tackled it have
resulted in identifying some prior solutions that addressed these challenges. Among these
solutions is The Edge, a prominent office building which serves as a connection between the
workplace and the surrounding environment. Its advantages are as follows It does not only
provide a social hub within the building but also acts as an environmental buffer, contributing
to reduced energy consumption by incorporating numerous passive and active design
elements to promote sustainability. The south facade utilizes heavy load-bearing walls for
effective thermal mass, while solar panels are strategically installed on the building's rooftop
to generate renewable energy. Rainwater harvesting and recycling systems are implemented
for toilet flushing and landscape irrigation. On the other hand, the innovative design and
features of The Edge's may not be easily replicable or scalable for all types of buildings or
projects. Studying and reviewing prior solutions came with some lessons learned that should
be considered in any new proposed solution. The learning lessons that have been considered
in this project contributed to setting the design requirement of this project prototype. The
design requirements are Thermal Comfort Management by maintaining an indoor
temperature that is at least 3 degrees Celsius higher than the external temperature during cold
periods and 3 degrees Celsius lower during hot periods, The building must achieve a net-zero
energy consumption status, and the building should utilize a smart water management system
to reduce water consumption by at least 20% compared to conventional buildings of similar
size.
https://ember-climate.org/countries-and-regions/countries/egypt/
